Wife faces 6 years in prison for not cleaning or cooking for her husband

KFOR -- A 40-year-old Italian woman is headed to trial after her 47-year-old husband claims his wife neglected and abused him by not cooking and cleaning enough, and by sometimes kicking him out of the bedroom.

According to The Telegraph, the woman faces two to six years behind bars if convicted of violating an Italian law that "punishes whoever mistreats a person in their family or a person entrusted to them for reasons of education, care or custody."

The woman had a preliminary hearing and the Italian judges decided not to dismiss the case, but rather to send it to trial.

Many Italians are shocked that the case has gone this far.

As written in the Italian newspaper II Tempo, "It's a case that seems to have come from the 1950's and not from a country where equality between the sexes should be a given."

The woman's trial begins October 12th and will be presided over by a female judge.

Another shocking blow to women in Italy came this week when a Sicilian court ruled that a male boss was not guilty of sexual harassment for groping his female colleagues because he was being playful and was not seeking a sexual encounter, and that his actions were due to an immature sense of humor.

The Telegraph cites a well-known Italian social commentator, Massimo Gramellini, who called the court's decision "worthy of Saudi Arabia."